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Vox
Vox is an Anglo-German pop rock band formed in 1994 by frontman Andrew Schneider. All of their albums are double albums. History 1990-1994: Origins Friends Andrew Schneider and Drew Tillman started their music career as a duo called 'Moonlight '''in 1990 in Leeds, England. Moonlight performed at local clubs. After this, they recorded a demo album in 1992 which was sent to 1-2-3-4 Music in 1993, which they accepted but was signed to Apparel Records instead. Schneider and Tillman began recording their debut album in January 1994, but after completing their debut album in May 1994, Apparel said to them that a duo would not work instead it would be a quartet and Schneider brought close friends Hicham Kiessling and James Tyler to complete the line-up and after a month later, Moonlight became Vox and production of their eight-song extended play began on July 1, 1994 and completed a week later. Two days, Vox began recording their debut album. 1994-1998: ''Vox, Fuschia, Lucky For a Third Time ''and ''Stop After completing their debut album on October 1994, Vox began promoting their self-titled debut EP and their debut single titled "Secret Love" in January 1995. 1998-2002: Hiatus After completing their fourth album and remastering their songs for their greatest hits album, Vox decided to take a hiatus from recording songs. In the hiatus, lead singer Andrew Schneider released his debut solo album, Eponymous ''in 2000. The album was inspired by the work of Garbage followed by his sophomore album ''Going Ska, inspired by the work of No Doubt. 2002-2006: Increased popularity, Dreamboat and The Clock Strikes Six On July 2002, Vox released their fifth album Dreamboat. Unlike their previous albums, which were pop rock, the fifth album was a complete departure by switching to grunge. Schneider said that the grunge-inspired album was inspired by grunge bands Nirvana, Bush, Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters. This was not their first attempt at grunge, they did a grunge song called "Concept" on their compilation album Concept: The Hits ''in 2000. The album was an instant commercial and critical success with music critics saying that the album not just brought back grunge but it was a fitting tribute to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. The album spanned six singles between 2002 and 2004: "White Fang", "Liar", "Crippled", "Reference", "Dreamboat" and "Just Click Play". During their tour, Vox released an album called ''Rarities, which consisted the band's outtakes and non-album singles. 2007-2008: Seven's the Limit ''and death of Adamson After ''Seven's the Limit ''was released in 2007, their manager Michael Adamson died in a car accident on June 13, 2008. He was 45. With this, the promotion for the album ended. 2008-2010: ''The Last Road on the Hill ''and ''Already Gone After Adamson's death, Schneider was unsure if Vox should self-manage or hire another manager. The result was to hire another manager by hiring Complex's manager Andrea Peach. With this, Schneider and Complex frontman Michael Embry became good friends. As a result, production of their country-inspired The Last Road on the Hil restarted and completed four weeks later on July 2008 for a September 2008 release. The album later became a success. In January 2009, Vox began recording their New Wave-inspired ninth album Already Gone. 2010-present: Songs from the Last Decade, re-releases of studio albums, Turning Tables '', Vox Wednesdays, ''Twelve and You Know It and Planetarium On May 2011, to make their debut album's 16th anniversary, Vox re-released all of their double albums plus their two EPs into triple albums with the third disc consisting of 7" remixes. Schneider said that the 12" remixes of their singles, the B-sides and the outtakes from their first ten albums would instead be released on a greatest hits album for the B-sides and the 12" remixes and a rarities album for the outtakes respectively. A month after the release of Turning Tables, Vox launched their free music service called Vox Wednesdays on May 1, 2011. The service was inspired by Kayne West's G.O.O.D. Fridays and Timbaland Thursdays. Every Wednesday, a new song by Vox is released for free download. Schneider's close friend Michael Embry announced that his band Complex would launch their free music service called Complex Tuesdays, but it has since been delayed. Their twelfth album, Twelve and You Know It ''is to be released on July 2012. The album is produced by Michael Embry. Schneider has said that the album is a covers album, which is a follow-up to ''Songs from the Last Decade, unlike its predcessor, the covers album includes cover versions of songs reworked as duets and new material. The first single will be "Hole in My Soul", set to come out April 25, 2012 and the music video has been shot and came out on March 1, 2012. Kiessling said that the video is a remake of the original music video by Aerosmith and is loosely inspired by the film A Monster in Paris. On March 1, 2012, Vox announced that they would start recording two albums in July 2012. Schneider said that the thirteenth album will be the Christmas album called Vox Christmas ''and the fourteenth album will be a rock opera titled ''Planetarium, based on an unmade screenplay. The remix album Remixes, will come out on July 12, 2012. It consists of newly-remixed versions of their singles, not counting their 12" remixes from their greatest hits albums nor their 7" remixes from their re-releases. Genre Music critics described Vox as a pop rock band, however according to their website, their genre is "alternative pop grunge". Schneider said to fans that their genre was not based on the Finnish rock band HIM's "love metal". They have also been described as alternative rock, soft rock, hard rock, pop, funk rock, C83, progressive rock, piano rock, grunge, jazz-funk, ska punk, New Wave, power pop, trip hop, electronica, rock, country, experimental rock, rock and roll, rockability, industrial rock, synthpop, synthrock, heavy metal, pop metal, pop punk and acoustic rock. Influences Vox has cited Nine Inch Nails, U2, R.E.M., Gary Numan, Eurythmics, Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi and The Beatles as their influences. Discography Studio albums *1995: Vox *1996: Fuschia *1997: Lucky For a Third Time *1998: Stop *2002: Dreamboat *2004: The Clock Strikes Six *2007: Seven's the Limit *2008: The Last Road on the Hill *2009: Already Gone *2010: Songs from the Last Decade *2011: Turning Tables *2012: Twelve and You Know It *2012: Vox Christmas *2013: Planetarium Compilation albums *1999: Concept: The Hits *2003: Rarities ''(rarities from ''Vox EP ''to ''Stop) *2005: Greatest Hits: 1995-2005 *2012: Remixes ''(rarities from ''Vox EP ''to ''Stop) *2012: Demos *2012: Rarities II ''(rarities from ''Dreamboat ''to ''Songs from the Last Decade) *2012: Remixes II ''(remixes from Dreamboat to Songs from the Last Decade) Live albums *2000: ''Stop Live *2001: Live in Amsterdam Extended plays *1994: Vox EP *2006: Acoustic EP Box sets *2011: Boxed In... 1994-2010 Others *2011-present: Vox Wednesdays Videography Vox is notable for their music videos. Members *Andrew Schneider (born March 1, 1969 in Berlin, West Germany) - Born in Berlin, to a father of Swiss Jewish descent and a mother of English descent. He is the frontman of the band. **Discography ***''Eponymous ''(2000, inspired by Garbage) ***''Going Ska ''(2001, inspired by No Doubt) ***''Pop Meets Grunge ''(2003, inspired by Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and Bush) ***''Bop to the Top ''(2005, inspired by Weezer and Placebo) ***''The Best of Andrew Schneider ''(2006) ***''In the Words of "Weird Al" ''(2012, inspired by "Weird Al" Yankovic) *Drew Tillman (born April 15, 1970 in Leeds, England) is the lead guitarist of the band and is also a singer in his own right. *Hicham Kiessling (born February 12, 1971 in Munich, West Germany) - Born in Munich to a Moroccan-born mother and a German father. *James Tyler (born January 13, 1972 in Essex, England) Personnel *Andrew Schneider - lead vocals, harmonica (1994-present) *Drew Tillman - guitar, saxophones, backing vocals (1994-present) *Hicham Kiessling - bass guitar, piano, backing vocals (1994-present) *James Tyler - drums, backing vocals (1994-present) Session/touring personnel *Caleb Mitchell - keyboard (1994-1998), theremin (1994-present) *Michael Stewart - keyboard (1998-2010), synthesiser (1994-present) *Andrew Hillard - keyboard (2010-present) *Joshua Perry - rhythm guitar (1994-present)